Thief steals more than just valuables

Updated:
Thursday, January 26, 2017 5:46 PM EST

RIVERTON, KANSAS -

Paige Mishler has taken extra care to keep the home she shared with fiance Marcus Bunce exactly the way it was when he left it, down to his shoes on the floor. Bunce was killed in December 2015 in a hit-and-run accident while jogging near their Riverton home.

The home Mishler and Bunce shared was broken into on Friday morning. The thief or thieves left with Mishler's engagement ring from Bunce, a purse and shotgun from Bunce, Bunce's wallet, pistol and personal cell phone the family has kept activated in order to hear his voice.

"Now that he's gone, it's even scarier for me to be here by myself and then somebody comes in and takes all that away," Mishler said.

Mishler is an ICU nurse at Freeman and was running late on the morning of Oct. 28 when she forgot to set her ADT alarm. Her dogs, including Bunce's cherished boxer, "Zoe" were put in a different room. Records show the thief entered the home twice before 9 a.m., presumably once to scope it out and once to steal items of value, though many valuable items in plain sight were left completely untouched. A window was broken in order to gain access.

"You know his complete side of the room is exactly how he left it and they came in and they just messed it all up. I was finally comfortable here and they took that all away," Mishler said.

Mishler remembers Bunce as thoughtful, caring. The Coach-brand purse that was stolen was a gift from Bunce while the two were on a trip in New York City. Mishler tells the story that she didn't even want a purse but Bunce insisted, or he'd buy her "the ugliest one" at Macy's. The engagement ring from Bunce was custom-made.

"They're important to me because you know, I can't get those back. He gave them to me," Mishler said.

Bunce's family is heartbroken over the theft of his cell phone. Marcus' mother, Buffy, says they kept the phone on their cell phone plan so they could call it to hear his voice on the voicemail message.

"People just left messages for him on that phone and it was important for us to be able to call the phone and to have that phone because it had videos of him on it, it had special pictures on it, just things that meant a lot, a lot to us," Buffy Bunce said, "Those are things that we just, we can't get those back."

Bunce and Mishler's family say that above all, they want the ring and the phone back. They won't even ask questions.

"Just give us our things back, we don't care who did it, why you did it, we would just love to have all of our things back because they mean so much to us," Bunce said.

If you have information pertaining to the theft, please contact Cherokee County Sheriff's Office at 620-429-3992. Items may also be appearing on various buy/sell/trade pages.

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